Supra (feast)

A supra (Georgian: სუფრა [supʰra]) is a traditional Georgian feast and an important part of Georgian social culture. There are two types of supra: a festive supra (ლხინის სუფრა, [lxinis supʰra]), called a keipi, and a sombre supra (ჭირის სუფრა, [tʃʼɪrɪs sʊpʰra]), called a kelekhi, that is always held after burials.

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In Georgian, "supra" means "table-cloth". It's likely related to the Arabicsufra (سفرة), Armeniansproc (սփրոց) and Turkish sofra, which are words for traditional eating surfaces.[citation needed]
Large public meals are never held in Georgia without a supra; when there are no tables, the supra is laid on the ground.

Regardless of size and type, a supra is always led by a tamada, or toastmaster, who introduces each toast during the feast. The tamada is elected by the banqueting guests or chosen by the host. A successful tamada must possess great rhetorical skill and be able to consume a large amount of alcohol without showing signs of drunkenness.[3] During the meal, the tamada will propose a toast, and then speak at some length about the topic. The guests raise their glasses, but do not drink. After the tamada has spoken, the toast continues, often in a generally counter-clockwise direction (to the right). The next guest who wishes to speak raises their glass, holds forth, and then drains their glass. If a guest does not wish to speak, they may drink from their glass after some words that particularly resonate for him or her. Eating is entirely appropriate during toasts, but talking is frowned upon. Once everyone who wishes to speak on the theme has done so, the tamada proposes a new toast, and the cycle begins again. Some popular traditional themes include toasts to God, Georgia, family, the mother of God, various saints, friends, ancestors, and so on. However, the theme of each toast is up to the tamada, who should be able to tailor his or her toasts to the occasion.

A keipi toast is called sadghegrdzelo (სადღეგრძელო, [sadɣɛɡrdzɛlɔ]), while a kelekhi toast is called a shesandobari (შესანდობარი, [ʃɛsandɔbarɪ]).

1.
Georgia (country)
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Georgia is a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. The capital and largest city is Tbilisi, Georgia covers a territory of 69,700 square kilometres, and its 2016 population is about 3.72 million. Georgia is a unitary, semi-presidential republic, with the government elected through a representative democracy, during the classical era, several independent kingdoms became established in what is now Georgia. The kingdoms of Colchis and Iberia adopted Christianity in the early 4th century, a unified Kingdom of Georgia reached the peak of its political and economic strength during the reign of King David IV and Queen Tamar in the 12th and early 13th centuries. Thereafter the kingdom declined and eventually disintegrated under hegemony of various powers, including the Mongols, the Ottoman Empire. Russian rule over Georgia was eventually acknowledged in various treaties with Iran. Since the establishment of the modern Georgian republic in April 1991, post-communist Georgia suffered from civil, the countrys Western orientation soon led to the worsening of relations with Russia, culminating in the brief Russo-Georgian War in August 2008. Georgia is a member of the United Nations, the Council of Europe, and it contains two de facto independent regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which gained limited international recognition after the 2008 Russo-Georgian War. Georgia and a part of the international community consider the regions to be part of Georgias sovereign territory under Russian military occupation. Georgia probably stems from the Persian designation of the Georgians – gurğān, in the 11th and 12th centuries adapted via Syriac gurz-ān/gurz-iyān, starting with the Persian word gurğ/gurğān, the word was later adopted in numerous other languages, including Slavic and West European languages. This term itself might have established through the ancient Iranian appellation of the near-Caspian region. The self-designation used by ethnic Georgians is Kartvelebi, the medieval Georgian Chronicles present an eponymous ancestor of the Kartvelians, Kartlos, a great-grandson of Japheth. However, scholars agree that the word is derived from the Karts, the name Sakartvelo consists of two parts. Its root, kartvel-i, specifies an inhabitant of the core central-eastern Georgian region of Kartli, ancient Greeks and Romans referred to early western Georgians as Colchians and eastern Georgians as Iberians. Today the full, official name of the country is Georgia, before the 1995 constitution came into force the countrys name was the Republic of Georgia. The territory of modern-day Georgia was inhabited by Homo erectus since the Paleolithic Era, the proto-Georgian tribes first appear in written history in the 12th century BC. The earliest evidence of wine to date has found in Georgia. In fact, early metallurgy started in Georgia during the 6th millennium BC, the classical period saw the rise of a number of early Georgian states, the principal of which was Colchis in the west and Iberia in the east

2.
Toast (honor)
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A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, thus, a person could be the toast of the evening, for whom someone proposes a toast to congratulate and for whom a third person toasts in agreement. The ritual forms the basis of the literary and performance genre, according to various apocryphal stories, the custom of touching glasses evolved from concerns about poisoning. By one account, clinking glasses together would cause each drink to spill over into the others, according to other stories, the word toast became associated with the custom in the 17th century, based on a custom of flavoring drinks with spiced toast. The word originally referred to the lady in whose honor the drink was proposed, toasts are generally offered at times of celebration or commemoration, including certain holidays, such as New Years Eve. Other occasions include retirement celebrations, housewarming parties, births, etc, the protocol for toasting at weddings is comparatively elaborate and fixed. The best man usually proposes a toast in the form of best wishes, a best mans toast takes the form of a short speech that combines a mixture of humor and sincerity. The actual toast is then delivered at the end of the speech and is a short phrase wishing the newlyweds a happy, healthy, the maid of honor may follow suit, appropriately tailoring her comments to the bride. The groom may offer the final toast, thanking the brides parents for hosting the wedding, the party for their participation. Typical traditional wedding toasts include the following, Heres to your coffins May they be made of hundred-year-old oaks Which we shall plant tomorrow. May you both live as long as you want, and never want as long as you live May the best of your yesterdays be the worst of your tomorrows, may I see you grey And combing your grandchildrens hair. Toasts are also offered on occasions, as in the case of Stephen Decaturs famous Our country. In our intercourse with foreign nations may we always be in the right, equally traditional are satiric verses, Heres to dear old Boston, The home of the bean and the cod, Where Lowells speak only to Cabots, And Cabots speak only to God. Toasts may be solemn, sentimental, humorous, even bawdy or insulting, the practice of announcing ones intention to make a toast and signalling for quiet by rapping on the wineglass, while common, is nonetheless regarded by some authorities as rude. Except in very small and informal gatherings, a toast is offered standing, at a gathering, none should offer a toast to the guest of honor until the host has had the opportunity to do so. In English-speaking countries, guests may signal their approval of the toast by saying hear hear, the person honored should neither stand nor drink, but after the toast should rise to thank the one who has offered the toast, perhaps but not necessarily offering a toast in turn. As toasts may occur in series, experienced attendees often make sure to leave enough wine in the glass to allow participation in numerous toasts. Even the non-drinker is counseled not to refuse to allow wine to be poured for a toast, inverting the glass is especially discouraged

3.
Mary, mother of Jesus
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Mary, also known by various titles, styles and honorifics, was a 1st-century Galilean Jewish woman of Nazareth and the mother of Jesus, according to the New Testament and the Quran. The gospels of Matthew and Luke in the New Testament and the Quran describe Mary as a virgin, the miraculous birth took place when she was already betrothed to Joseph and was awaiting the concluding rite of marriage, the formal home-taking ceremony. She married Joseph and accompanied him to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, the Gospel of Luke begins its account of Marys life with the Annunciation, when the angel Gabriel appeared to her and announced her divine selection to be the mother of Jesus. According to canonical gospel accounts, Mary was present at the crucifixion and is depicted as a member of the early Christian community in Jerusalem. According to the Catholic and Orthodox teaching, at the end of her life her body was assumed directly into Heaven. Mary has been venerated since Early Christianity, and is considered by millions to be the most meritorious saint of the religion and she is claimed to have miraculously appeared to believers many times over the centuries. The Eastern and Oriental Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches believe that Mary, there is significant diversity in the Marian beliefs and devotional practices of major Christian traditions. The Roman Catholic Church holds distinctive Marian dogmas, namely her status as the Mother of God, her Immaculate Conception, her perpetual virginity, many Protestants minimize Marys role within Christianity, based on the argued brevity of biblical references. Mary also has a position in Islam, where one of the longer chapters of the Quran is devoted to her. Marys name in the manuscripts of the New Testament was based on her original Aramaic name ܡܪܝܡ‎. The English name Mary comes from the Greek Μαρία, which is a form of Μαριάμ. Both Μαρία and Μαριάμ appear in the New Testament, in Christianity, Mary is commonly referred to as the Virgin Mary, in accordance with the belief that she conceived Jesus miraculously through the Holy Spirit without her husbands involvement. The three main titles for Mary used by the Orthodox are Theotokos, Aeiparthenos as confirmed in the Second Council of Constantinople in 553, Catholics use a wide variety of titles for Mary, and these titles have in turn given rise to many artistic depictions. For example, the title Our Lady of Sorrows has inspired such masterpieces as Michelangelos Pietà, the title Theotokos was recognized at the Council of Ephesus in 431. However, this phrase in Greek, in the abbreviated form ΜΡ ΘΥ, is an indication commonly attached to her image in Byzantine icons. The Council stated that the Church Fathers did not hesitate to speak of the holy Virgin as the Mother of God, some Marian titles have a direct scriptural basis. For instance, the title Queen Mother has been given to Mary since she was the mother of Jesus, the scriptural basis for the term Queen can be seen in Luke 1,32 and the Isaiah 9,6. Queen Mother can be found in 1 Kings 2, 19-20 and Jeremiah 13, other titles have arisen from reported miracles, special appeals or occasions for calling on Mary

4.
Tamada
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A tamada is a Georgian toastmaster at a Georgian supra or at a wedding, corresponding to the symposiarch at the Greek symposion or the thyle at the Anglo-Saxon sumbel. At all supras regardless of size, there is a tamada, or toastmaster, Georgians like to say that the tamada is dictator of the table, but it would be more appropriate to compare him to a leader or even a teacher. At the Georgian table, a tamada is considered to help bridge the gap between past, present and future, toasting ancestors and descendants as well as the guests at the table. A toast can be proposed only by a tamada, the rest are to develop the idea, some toasts take a traditional form, for example, for some toasts all men have to stand up and drink wine in silence. In many cases, however, the guests vie to say something more original and emotional than the speaker. Historically the tamada had more control over the table than he does today, for example, members of the supra were supposed to ask permission before leaving the table and the party. If they got the permission they could be toasted by the tamada, if the first toast is to the tamada, it is proposed by someone else, generally by the host, who proposes the nomination of the tamada. If the supra is very small, in home with only a few guests, the role of tamada wont be specially assigned. At very large occasions, such as wedding or funeral banquets, the tamada is chosen in advance by the family, at mid-size occasions, however, the people of the table themselves choose the tamada. The choice depends on several factors, there may be a senior person at the table to whom the role naturally falls. In some groups there will be one man who regularly is the tamada because he enjoys it and is good at it, sometimes groups of friends who gather frequently will rotate the responsibility of being tamada. Others express agreement and, if Kote raises no serious objections, the supra participants do the same. The newly toasted tamada initiates new toasts from then on and it might be the case, however, that Kote doesnt want to be tamada. Perhaps he feels that the person is suggesting his name ought to be the tamada. Maybe he was tamada last night and has a hangover, or is driving and cant drink, or would like to leave the gathering early and he would refuse the job, perhaps pleading some excuse. Following the proposal of this first toast, each member of the supra toasts the tamada with a phrase or two and drinks his glass. On this toast people drink quite quickly, almost in unison, some frequently heard phrases on this first toast include “Kotes Gaumarjos”, where Kote is the name of the person who will be tamada, or “Kargad chaatarebinos es supra”. There is only one common circumstance where the first toast is not to the tamada, in that case, the host simply assumes the role, as noted above, and proposes the first toast to a particular theme

5.
Arabic
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Arabic is a Central Semitic language that was first spoken in Iron Age northwestern Arabia and is now the lingua franca of the Arab world. Arabic is also the language of 1.7 billion Muslims. It is one of six languages of the United Nations. The modern written language is derived from the language of the Quran and it is widely taught in schools and universities, and is used to varying degrees in workplaces, government, and the media. The two formal varieties are grouped together as Literary Arabic, which is the language of 26 states. Modern Standard Arabic largely follows the standards of Quranic Arabic. Much of the new vocabulary is used to denote concepts that have arisen in the post-Quranic era, Arabic has influenced many languages around the globe throughout its history. During the Middle Ages, Literary Arabic was a vehicle of culture in Europe, especially in science, mathematics. As a result, many European languages have borrowed many words from it. Many words of Arabic origin are found in ancient languages like Latin. Balkan languages, including Greek, have acquired a significant number of Arabic words through contact with Ottoman Turkish. Arabic has also borrowed words from languages including Greek and Persian in medieval times. Arabic is a Central Semitic language, closely related to the Northwest Semitic languages, the Ancient South Arabian languages, the Semitic languages changed a great deal between Proto-Semitic and the establishment of the Central Semitic languages, particularly in grammar. Innovations of the Central Semitic languages—all maintained in Arabic—include, The conversion of the suffix-conjugated stative formation into a past tense, the conversion of the prefix-conjugated preterite-tense formation into a present tense. The elimination of other prefix-conjugated mood/aspect forms in favor of new moods formed by endings attached to the prefix-conjugation forms, the development of an internal passive. These features are evidence of descent from a hypothetical ancestor. In the southwest, various Central Semitic languages both belonging to and outside of the Ancient South Arabian family were spoken and it is also believed that the ancestors of the Modern South Arabian languages were also spoken in southern Arabia at this time. To the north, in the oases of northern Hijaz, Dadanitic and Taymanitic held some prestige as inscriptional languages, in Najd and parts of western Arabia, a language known to scholars as Thamudic C is attested

6.
Niko Pirosmani
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Niko Pirosmani, simply referred to as Nikala, was a Georgian primitivist painter who posthumously rose to prominence. Pirosmani was born in the Georgian village of Mirzaani to a peasant family in Kakheti province and his parents, Aslan Pirosmanashvili and Tekle Toklikishvili, were farmers, who owned a small vineyard, with a few cows and oxen. He was later orphaned and left in the care of his two sisters, Mariam and Pepe. He moved with them to Tbilisi in 1870, in 1872, while living in a little apartment not far from Tbilisi railway station, he worked as a servant to wealthy families and learned to read and write Russian and Georgian. In 1876, he returned to Mirzaani and worked as a herdsman, Pirosmani gradually taught himself to paint. One of his specialties was painting directly into black oilcloth, in 1882, with self-taught George Zaziashvili, he opened a painting workshop, where they made signboards. In 1890, he worked as a railroad conductor, in 1893, he co-founded a dairy farm in Tbilisi, which he left in 1901. Throughout his life, Pirosmani, who was poor, was willing to take ordinary jobs including housepainting and whitewashing buildings and he also worked for shopkeepers in Tbilisi, creating signboards, paintings, and portraits, according to their orders. Although his paintings had some local popularity his relationship with professional artists remained uneasy, in April 1918, he died of malnutrition and liver failure. He was buried at the Nino cemetery, the location was not registered and is unknown. Pirosmani’s paintings were influenced by the conditions of his time. There are many works about merchants, shopkeepers, workmen, Pirosmani was fond of nature and rural life. He was the only Georgian animalist, Pirosmani also was attracted by historical figures and themes such as Shota Rustaveli, Queen Tamar, Giorgi Saakadze, as well as ordinary Georgian people and their everyday lives. Unlike other artists, Niko didn’t aim at a pure imitation of the nature, some of his paintings are monochrome. His paintings demonstrate the authors sharp compositional consideration, placements of the figures are frontal, while faces do not demonstrate a specific mood. In the 1910s, he won the enthusiasm of the Russian poet Mikhail Le-Dantyu, Ilia Zhdanevich wrote a letter about Pirosmani to the newspaper Zakavkazskaia Rech, which it published on February 13,1913. He undertook to publicise Pirosmanis painting in Moscow, critics writing later in the same newspaper were impressed with his talent. In the same year, an article about Niko Pirosmani and his art was published in Georgian newspaper Temi

7.
Keipi
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A Keipi or festivity supra is a traditional banquet feast in Georgia. In ancient Georgia, a keipi would be held in the spring for all the village to attend, the women of the village would ensure that the food was constantly replenished as a tamada, or toastmaster, gives a toast. Tradition would have no one could touch their wine bowl until the toast was finished. He goes on to mention that The Georgian custom is to drain the wine bowl and they are the number of your enemies. A tamada arranges breaks from time to time, the thing is that there are special toasts which according to the ritual should be accompanied by a song or a verse. Almost everyone in Georgia has an ear to music and good voice. Songs have always accompanied the Georgians in joy and sorrow, in battle, old Georgian drinking−songs are melodious, polyphonic and rather complicated. Some of them dont need any accompaniment, the choir of men creates musical background. Modern drinking−songs are usually performed to the accompaniment of the guitar or the piano, special drinking songs and wedding songs as well as chants full of humor, sung by guests during the course of the party contest. It may sound strange but sometimes even events of social, economic and political significance are discussed during the table talks, the atmosphere at the Georgian table is so friendly and candid that even the enemies are likely to make up. If there is room at the party you may take part in folk dances. In these dances and at the table men ought to be gentlemen and try to be very polite, of course, no songs and dances accepted at “khelehi”. Darra Goldstein, The Georgian Feast, The Vibrant Culture and Savory Food of the Republic of Georgia, university of California Press, ISBN 0-520-21929-5. Traditional Georgian feast - Supra Georgian burial banquet - Kelekhi GEORGIA TRAVEL, Wine drinking, tradition in Georgia Georgia, society, language and culture Georgian traditions

8.
Meal
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A meal is an eating occasion that takes place at a certain time and includes specific, prepared food, or the food eaten on that occasion. The names used for meals in English vary greatly, depending on the speakers culture. Meals occur primarily at homes, restaurants, and cafeterias, regular meals occur on a daily basis, typically several times a day. Special meals are held in conjunction with such occasions as birthdays, weddings, anniversaries. A meal is different from a snack in that meals are generally larger, more varied, the type of meal served or eaten at any given time varies by custom and location. In most modern cultures, three meals are eaten, in the morning, early afternoon, and evening. Further, the names of meals are often interchangeable by custom as well, some serve dinner as the main meal at midday, with supper as the late afternoon/early evening meal, while others may call their midday meal lunch and their early evening meal supper. Except for breakfast, these names can vary from region to region or even family to family. A study in 2016 by Toluna found that 47% of parents share fewer meals with their families than when growing up, breakfast is the first meal of a day, most often eaten in the early morning before undertaking the days work. Some believe it to be the most important meal of the day, among English speakers, breakfast can be used to refer to this meal or to refer to a meal composed of traditional breakfast foods served at any time of day. The word literally refers to breaking the fasting period of the prior night, a full breakfast is a breakfast meal, usually including bacon, sausages, eggs, and a variety of other cooked foods, with a beverage such as coffee or tea. It is especially popular in the UK and Ireland, to the extent that many cafés and it is also popular in other English-speaking countries. In England it is referred to as a full English breakfast or fry-up. Other regional names and variants include the full Scottish, full Welsh, full Irish, the full breakfast is among the most internationally recognised British dishes, along with such staples as bangers & mash, shepherds pie, fish and chips and the Christmas dinner. A full breakfast is often contrasted with the alternative of a Continental breakfast, traditionally consisting of tea, milk or coffee and fruit juices with bread, croissants. Instant breakfast typically refers to breakfast food products that are manufactured in a powdered form, some instant breakfasts are produced and marketed in liquid form, being pre-mixed. The target market for instant breakfast products includes consumers who tend to be busy, a champagne breakfast is a breakfast served with champagne or sparkling wine. It is a new concept in some countries and is not typical of the role of a breakfast and it may be part of any day or outing considered particularly luxurious or indulgent

9.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker

A tamada (Georgian: თამადა) is a Georgian toastmaster at a Georgian supra (feast) or at a wedding, corresponding to the …

The sculpture of a man holding a horn in Tbilisi modeled on an ancient Colchian statuette affectionately monikered as "tamada".

Bronze statue from the 7th century BC discovered during archaeological excavations in the city of Vani. This statue is the statue of a Tamada, a toastmaster. The sheet also pictures amphora that were used at this time to carry and to stock the wine. Stamp of Georgia, 2007.